Best Gig Travels

[jkornel]

Just got back from a 3 night run in Banff, Alberta, Canada ... its about a 5 hour drive from Edmonton where we live and we make the trip at least once or twice a year to play at the Rose and Crown Pub. Venue was packed and people were ready to party as things start to open up here. But the best part is spending a few days in a beautiful mountain town surrounded by nature, fresh air and so many amazing views.

I am sure there are some amazing places you all have gigged, so what are some of the nicest places music has taken you? Post some pics.

Here's a few shots from my weekend....and my PRS.

9127DC0A-9ED8-41D9-9824-B3F35E63DC82 by jdkornel, on Flickr
A39AE04B-E83F-4C7A-808F-EEEDCBC9CBB1 by jdkornel, on Flickr
70481A33-0D75-47A7-97BF-102A8A499EEE by jdkornel, on Flickr
1CF6910F-79D0-444E-9886-34E63ED19746 by jdkornel, on Flickr

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Great share! The town, the scenery and the gig looks fab.

 

[Moondog Wily]

Looks like a hoot! Great that you are getting back to what we once considered normal!! No stories about gig travels for this cat, but thanks for sharing yours and cheers to many more!!!

 

[WEDGE]

Looks like fun, and a tight stage!

 

[veinbuster]

I wish I had played in places as nice as Banff. I was usually in logging or mining towns.

If you are back in June, let me know.

 

[jak3af3r]

My favorite place I've ever gigged was Key West, Florida. I was there for 2 weeks playing 5 nights a week in February a few years ago. The island is small enough you can walk the whole thing in a day, the weather was beautiful, the food was incredible, and because it's such a touristy place, the crowds were a blast.

 

[Gnarmageddon]

I am a studio rat / composer / producer who has outlived his marketability. And though I have a lot of fond (and hazy) memories from the years of living in a van or a box truck traversing this great nation of ours, I sometimes wonder how I survived unscathed.

The night our van broke down and we got towed to some random garage in the outskirts of Erie, PA was a favorite. It was 6am, pouring rain, and we decided to take cover in the big storage shed on the property. There were tons of discarded bits of cars, furniture, and so on. Our singer jokingly says, “honey, we’re home. What’s for dinner?” and proceeds to open a decades old refrigerator that just so happened to contain a human corpse.

Yeah. Those were the days!

 

[Deleted member 5962]

I am a studio rat / composer / producer who has outlived his marketability. And though I have a lot of fond (and hazy) memories from the years of living in a van or a box truck traversing this great nation of ours, I sometimes wonder how I survived unscathed.

The night our van broke down and we got towed to some random garage in the outskirts of Erie, PA was a favorite. It was 6am, pouring rain, and we decided to take cover in the big storage shed on the property. There were tons of discarded bits of cars, furniture, and so on. Our singer jokingly says, “honey, we’re home. What’s for dinner?” and proceeds to open a decades old refrigerator that just so happened to contain a human corpse.

Yeah. Those were the days!

Bates Motel?

 

[Gnarmageddon]

Bates Motel?

If only. It was some dilapidated auto repair place maybe 20-30mi outside of town. This was maybe 1994 or 1995, so four broke ass metal musicians like us did not have cell phones. But I do remember one of us going "shoot, we have to call the cops!" and the rest of us going, "do NOT call the COPS - they're probably related to these guys".

It's funny how my mom used to tell me that horror movies would wreck my brain, but when thrust into a horror movie-esque situation, you at least know what's worked and not worked in the past. Anyone ever see Motel Hell? With the band, "Ivan* and the Terribles" being farmed for jerky meat at the hands of a deranged farmer? We didn't want to go down that road - so we got back in the van, fashioned some weapons, and waited patiently for the repair guys to show up. And yeah, any one of them would have been a walk-on role for an 80's splatter flick as "deranged rural auto mechanic."

(* fun fact, 'ivan' was none other than Cliff Klaven of Cheers fame)

 

[Moondog Wily]

If only. It was some dilapidated auto repair place maybe 20-30mi outside of town. This was maybe 1994 or 1995, so four broke ass metal musicians like us did not have cell phones. But I do remember one of us going "shoot, we have to call the cops!" and the rest of us going, "do NOT call the COPS - they're probably related to these guys".

It's funny how my mom used to tell me that horror movies would wreck my brain, but when thrust into a horror movie-esque situation, you at least know what's worked and not worked in the past. Anyone ever see Motel Hell? With the band, "Ivan* and the Terribles" being farmed for jerky meat at the hands of a deranged farmer? We didn't want to go down that road - so we got back in the van, fashioned some weapons, and waited patiently for the repair guys to show up. And yeah, any one of them would have been a walk-on role for an 80's splatter flick as "deranged rural auto mechanic."

(* fun fact, 'ivan' was none other than Cliff Klaven of Cheers fame)

LOVE Motel Hell! Harvest time was my favorite part of the movie!! Most people just don't think of how diverse a tractor can be when used properly!!! Thanks for pointing out the Cliff Klaven connection, I never knew that!!!!

 

[veinbuster]

I never found gig travels that much fun, but I do have some interesting gig stories. Here’s one for the new folk. I’m sure I’ve told it before so old timers can skip on by.

We were playing 4 shows in a small town along the Quebec border. The place was a bit sketchy. The whole town had an aura of rough and tumble. Our drummer wasn’t in great physical shape, so knew he was the one to be sacrificed if there was trouble. The singer and I might have fuelled the fire a bit. Regardless, he strapped a Bowie knife to his bass drum...just in case.

Most of the customers came to do some serious drinking. By the middle of the second set, they were loud, and mostly happy. One guy a few tables from the stage started arguing with his girlfriend and it was looking like something bad could happen. He kicked a chair our way and got up to fight. But, he was a gentleman, so instead of hitting his girlfriend, he started beating the snot out of a support beam. After a couple of verses (we were professionals after all) his hands were a mess and a couple of his buddies escorted him out.

Part way through our fourth set (we did 5 hour shows in Quebec because bars were open really late), in walks the boyfriend with both hands wrapped in gauze as big as boxing gloves, happy as a pig in ****, to finish out the night in the company of his best girl.

 

[bodia]

Looks like fun!

 

[Gnarmageddon]

LOVE Motel Hell! Harvest time was my favorite part of the movie!! Most people just don't think of how diverse a tractor can be when used properly!!! Thanks for pointing out the Cliff Klaven connection, I never knew that!!!!

I love all the crossover between splatter movies and my genre of choice. I mean, "Trick 'R Treat?" Skippy from Family Ties as the disaffected metalhead youth, with Gene Simmons as a radio DJ and Ozzy Osbourne as a priest? Yes, sign me up. I'll take three.

 

[Daryl Jones]

Know the Rose and Crown quite well, was a favorite haunt in my apres ski nights. Usually a better quality clientele than filled the King Eddy later on in the evenings.
As to "Motel Hell" I remember that flick too..."My life was a lie, I used preservatives!"

 

[gush]

These stories make my laugh, I lived through some situations that I probably shouldn't have!!

Never found a corpse but I'm sure I was very close to being one a number of times!!!!

 

[andy474x]

I don't have any glam stories of great gig locales like this, but I'm glad you do! Fun to see. These are the kinds of places I like to get away to. Recently went to Montana, Glacier NP and the mountain towns that come along with it, and was reminded that I need to vacation more.

 

[László]

My best gigs were recording sessions in Paris, France, and Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

I've got pics somewhere, but don't have them handy to post.

 

[veinbuster]

My best gigs were recording sessions in Paris, France, and Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

I've got pics somewhere, but don't have them handy to post.

Beats Swastica and Notre Dame du Norde

 

[RickP]

Some of the funniest memories were places we stayed while on the road. I remember being in Tennessee and looking for a hotel… in the sticks and we couldn’t find anything. We finally spot this place that looks like a country version of the Bates Motel, but we were tired and pickings were slim, so we got a couple of rooms. Unfortunately, no Janet Leigh types wandering the grounds.

I get to my room and, no kidding, there’s a coin box… one of those like you used to see on rocking horses for the kids to ride in front of the grocery store, but it’s connected to the bed! Further investigation revealed it would make the bed vibrate if you put quarters in it. Weirdness aside, I was just throwing a blanket over the whole thing and sleeping on top of it anyway, so I resisted the temptation to test those waters. So I hop on the now blanketed bed, and it rocks to one side. Looking underneath… three legs. Now I’m rolling laughing. A three legged, vibrating bed. Propped up, it wasn’t too bad. But ridiculously funny.

In all the weird sleeping arrangements on the road, I’ve never topped that one.

 

[Moondog Wily]

OK, @RickP 's stories remind me of some stuff from the 80's. Far from the "best gig travels" I had ever done, as a matter of fact the opposite! But here goes. I had been "secured" as the "light man" for this band who toured out of New Orleans and played along the Gulf coast, including Alabama, Mississippi and the Panhandle of FLA. They were called "Legacy". I did not care for the material they were doing (Guns 'N Roses, etc) but it was extra income for the weekends and if we got pushed a couple of days longer for some gigs, my job was flexible enough to be able to continue on with the band and make some cash! Couple of great stories come to mind:
1. One day, we are driving down the highway in the rental truck. The chick lead singer is in the passenger side of the bench seat, and I am in the center. I need to spit, so the window was open and I leaned across her to spit out the window ;~)) It came flying right back into the truck, smack dab in her eye! We all laughed, but that was something that will live in my head the rest of my life!
2. One night, we get to our motel room and my girl was visiting at this time, and decided to come on that weekends tour with the band. We walked into the room, and turned on the lights. Looked seedy but sleep-able! We then moved to the bathroom, turned on the lights and the bathtub went from solid black to white as the roaches scattered down the drain and into other crevices! I had been living in New Orleans for some time, so I had seen my share of roaches (some as large as a PRS) but this took the cake! My girl did NOT take a shower in that tub that night, she could not erase what she had seen!

Anyway, kind of the opposite of what this thread is about, but never the less, fun stories for me that I am sure others can identify with!!